Tour of Jo Daviess County tree farm Sept. 29

• Elizabeth, Ill., tree farmers were named 2011 Illinois Tree Farmers of the Year

Online Staff Report

ROCK FALLS, Ill. — Jerry and Marge Misek were selected as 2011 Illinois Tree Farmers of the Year. A tour of their Jo Daviess County tree farm, Acorn Acres, is being sponsored by the Illinois Tree Farm Program and the Northwest Illinois Forestry Association Saturday, Sept. 29.

The tour is open to the public and will start with registration from 9 to 9:45 a.m. There will be a $5 registration fee to cover lunch and snacks.

Following registration, small groups will start a walking tour of moderate difficulty through the forest. Eight 10-minute stops will be made on the half-mile tour. At each stop, speakers will discuss their topic and answer brief questions. Topics covered include regeneration from the 1998 wind storm damage; tree diseases; pond establishment; commercial thinning of Black Walnut; Bush Honeysuckle eradication; Shiitake mushroom production; selecting crop trees in a pre-commercial Black Walnut thinning; and Black Walnut sale.

Lunch will follow the forestry tour with short presentations, door prizes and a Woodmizer sawmill demonstration. The afternoon quarter-mile walking tour will include six stops. The stops will include CRP warm-season grass establishment; CRP shrub plantings; dry dam; grass waterways, diversion and rock checks; wildlife food plot, firebreaks and alternative warm season grasses; and a shallow water pond.

The event will take place rain or shine. The morning walking tour will last two hours and the afternoon tour will last an hour and a half. Attendees should have the ability to walk over the trails.